A new study released in Australia shows that electric vehicles maintain more than 90 per cent of their battery health, even after 120,000 kilometres and more than four years on the road.
The report, from Australian used car marketplace Pickles, challenges common fears about EV battery degradation, which are cited as one of the biggest barriers to purchasing an EV. One 2023 report from the Green Finance Institute found 62 per cent of the respondents said they would not purchase an EV because of concerns about battery lifespan.
However, the new report finds that Hyundai EVs showed an impressive 99.31 per cent battery health after 120,000 kms, while BYD was a close second at 98.62 per cent, exceeding Tesla’s previous record.
“These results provide some of the first insights available in the Australian market are in relation to used EV battery health,” said Fraser Ronald, Chief Commercial Officer at Pickles.
The data was gathered by testing more than 250 EVs provided to Pickles across major Australian cities (an obviously small sample size).
The company said it was in the final stages of developing an EV battery health assurance process which would give its customers greater confidence when making EV purchases.
Used EV sales through Pickles were up 190% last year, selling a record-smashing 334 used EVs in 2024. The company said growing variety, lower prices and the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption were all at play in the dramatic uptick in sales.
“Private buyers are leading the charge, with 51% of EVs sold at Pickles going to individual customers, compared to just 24% for petrol and diesel vehicles,” said Ronald.
This uptick was also seen in the UK, where sales of second-hand EVs were up 57 per cent on the year before according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The FBT exemption introduced in Australia last year removed the tax for EVs under $89,332. The FBT is a tax applied to an employer who provides an employee with a vehicle, where the use exceeds private use.
With the introduction of the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES), which will come into force later this year, the company anticipates shifts in demand towards used EVs.
The NVES sets emissions limits for new vehicles sold by manufacturers, and those limits will get stricter over time. If a manufacturer exceeds the emissions cap they will face financial penalties.
Under the scheme, car companies that sell low or zero-emissions cars can also offset the emissions of higher-emitting vehicles against them.
Climate Council predicts the new scheme could prevent 20 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030.
The report also found that an influx of cheaper EV models from China was disrupting the market, though the Tesla Model 3 continued to dominate its sales last year – even as Tesla reported plunging sales last year.